Curtain-fixture



(No Model.) I

. W. P. PUTNAM.

. CURTAIN FIXTURE..

No. 256,736. Patented Apr.18,1882.

l i l IIX/ A* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. `WENDELL P. PUTNAM, OFl NVATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

'CURTAIN- FIXTURE.

SPECIFICA'IIONy forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,736, dated April 18, 1882.

' Application filed January 23, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WENDELL P. PUTNAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Watertown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Fixtures 5 and I do hereby declare that the same are fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accolnpanying drawings.

It is well known as a serious objection to `stop-fixtures arranged to lock when manipulated slowlyr that should the shade slip from the hand of the operator before being fully locked, it will ily and continue to roll up until the power of the spring is exhausted.

The object of my improvement is to remedy this and provide a stop-fixture which may be readily run up and down at a moderate speed without locking, but which will efi'ectually prevent the shade, under the tension of the spring, from running clear up to the top of the window when inadvertently released in an unlocked condition.

My invention consists in a spring curtainroller, carrying a recessed cap, having near its center a pawl-lifting projection, as will be described, in combination with a spindle pass'- in g through said cap and provided with apivoted pawl, so arranged as to be gently lifted by the projection in the cap when the roller is rotated at moderate speed around thespindlc held stationary in the brackets, and to be forcibly thrown up into engagement with the recess or teeth ot' said cap when the roller isv rapidly rotated. From this it will be obvious that while the roller is mounted in its brackets my locking devices engage only when the rotation is rapid, and that the roller is not locked with a slow movement. This result is the exact reverse ofthe ordinary action of stopfixtures;

The pivoted pawl and the ratchet-teeth or recesses of the end cap serve also as a lock to prevent uncoiling ot' the operating-spring in case the spindle is removed from the bracket without previous locking, since thc rotary impulse at once impa-rted by the spring to the spindle will throw the free end ofthe pawl centrifugally outward into engagement with the recesses in the cap. I do not, however, at this time claim centrifugal locking by means of a pivoted pawl, broadly, since in ajoint application for patent recently made by me and one Frank M. Kelley a similar pawl was employed to engage with the wall ot' the springchamber or end cap to lock the spindle to the roller. Such apparatus being destitute of the notches or recesses in the cap, and also of the pawllitting projection nearvits center, could not operate as a stop-fixture for the mounted roller, and hence said lock was not operative under all circumstances, both when mounted in the brackets and when removed therefrom.

The drawings illustrate my invention, Figure l being an end viewiof the roller as mounted in its brackets and locked. Fig. 2 is a crosssection, at x m, Fig. 3, through the end cap, looking toward the bracket seen in Fig. l; Fig. 3, a side view, partly in section, to exhibit the locking device; and Fig. 4 shows the parts of the locking device detached. In Fig. 1 the bracket and the collar H are indicated by dotted lines, as though transparent.

The shade A is mounted upon the roller B, which has the usual operating-spring, C, surrounding the spindle D, which is held, agiven side uppermost, by the bracket E in the ordinary manner.

A cap, O, is secured tothe end ofthe roller, s o as to revolve with it around the spindle D, which forms a bearing for the cap and roller. The cap has a peripheral iiange, within which is formed a recess, F, or a series ot recesses, to receive the toe of the locking-pawl Gr, which is pivoted to a collar, H, or some equivalent projection on the spindle, so as, when engaged with the recesses F, to stop the upward movemeut of the shade.

Within the cap and near to its bearing upon the spindle there is formed a projecting lug, I, which extends outwardly, about parallel to the spindle, suiiicien tly far to lift the pivoted pawl Gr with each rotation ofthe roller. This pawl is so located and shaped as to be struck about midway of its lower edge by the lug I, while its pivot isjust out ofthe track of said lug in its rotary movement. This arrangement ot' parts permits the lug to lift the pawl without striking its pivot, so that free rotation of the roller in either direction is assured.

The end of the roller may be inelosed in a fcrrule, K, concealing the locking devices.

IOO

Vhen the curtain is drawn downward the pawl, although lifted by the lug I, is dormant, and does not resist rotation; but when the spring carries the shade upward rapidly the lug strikes thc pawl suddenly and forcibly, and throws it up far enough to catch in one of recesses F and prevent further rotation in that direction until the shade is drawn slightly down, to permit the toe of the pawl to be disengaged.- Slow upward movement, however, as already stated, does not engage the paw] in the recess.

I claim as my invention- '1. A spring-actuated curtain-roller carrying an end cap, having one or more recesses in the inner wall of its peripheral ange and a pawllifting lug near its center, in combination with a central spindle provided with a pivoted pawl adapted to be lifted hy the lng into engagement with the recess in the end cap during a quick upward movement of the shade, for the,

purpose set forth.

2. The spindle D and the pivoted pawl G, supported thereon, in combination with the spring-actuated roller B, carrying the recessed end cap and its lug I or equivalent devices, for the purposes set forth'.

In testimony whereof I hereto att-ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WENDELL r. PUTNAM.

Witnesses: Y*

A. H. SPENCER, E. A. PHELPs. 

